Freedom II: Immortals Reunited
by AshleyDaughterofApollo
Summary: In the next part of the journey half-bloods go to the underworld to meet up with more old 'dead' friends, find this 'elderly light', and free their immortal parents. Can do this while keeping everything together and hauling a dying girl with them? Will Piper get her voice back? News on Annabeth? Join them as they try to save the world…again. Sequel to Freedom: Seven Reunited.
1. It's Time!

Percy paced in his room. It's been a week since the meeting in the recreation room, and things have still been going as crappy as they were before. Today was the day they left for the underworld and he wasn't ready to leave. Not at all. Especially not with all that's happened. It seemed like everything was a disaster. Wait, everything was a disaster.

The camp wasn't in ruins yet, but after the battle they just had, it wouldn't take long before it happens again. Percy felt another sense of dread, which was basically all he's felt since he woke up. He had been fooled by Gaea, again. It failed his friends, his parents, and Annabeth mostly. He couldn't even find his own girlfriend, how can he find the Gods?

He recalled everything that happened the day before.

_Percy sat in his bunk in Cabin Three. He had his head in his hands and he didn't even want to get up for breakfast in the Pavilion. He was the worst boyfriend ever. How could he eat when all he could think about was Annabeth? She had gone crazy, which reminded him of May Castellan. He didn't want to think about it but he had none other to ponder over. _

_His mother put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I brought you food" she said. Percy looked up to see his mother in a blue sweater and jeans. Her eyes were just as kind and blue as the calm seas, but had a sad look of longing in them too. _

"_Thanks" he said. "I'm not really hungry though" His mother had tears in her eyes. She sat beside him and placed the plate of food by the bedside table. _

"_Percy, you need to build your strength, you were in a coma for the last seven years" she tried. He shook his head. He couldn't eat. If he did, he'd feel even hollow on the inside and he'd want to spit it out afterwards. It was like that at dinner after he saw Annabeth. _

"_Eat!" Sally nearly raised her voice. "You need to eat! Starving yourself won't help at all!" Percy felt horrible that he was making his mother resort to raising her voice. She hadn't done that since…ever. And she was starting to cry too. _

"_My son does _not_ give up, so Percy Jackson, wake up!" she said, walking back towards the door. She closed the door lightly, despite her faltering mood. As much as Percy wanted to slap himself in the face to toughen up, his heart was too damaged at the moment. He wanted to just sit in that same spot for days. His mother was right. He wasn't himself anymore. He was acting like his blood was made of the river Cocytus. As if everything had no point anymore. But there was a point in everything. _

_Percy stood up and left is Cabin. New Greece, The hidden Camp Half-Blood was running in full swing. Counselors were leading their cabins to breakfast, and some campers were starting their schedules. Some people were out front their Cabins. Percy saw Jason and Piper walking over to the Hecate Cabin. He guessed that Piper was going to try to remove the necklace and Jason was there for support. She would need it, just in case. _

_Percy didn't want to be a Debbie Downer, but it seemed like nothing was working out for them at all. Or maybe it was just him in particular. _

_Hazel and Frank were the only one out of the seven that were okay. They seemed fairly happy and they were always together. Well, most couples in New Greece were always together, since no one ever knew when another apocalypse might happen. _

_Leo was just as unhappy and lonely as he was. There was something missing in his life and it seemed as if Leo was hell bent on finding it. _

_Percy walked over to the big house after taking a deep breath. It seemed like every time he left the Big House, he was more and more upset each time. But he had to listen to his mother. He stepped inside after waving to Chiron who was playing pinochle with a satyr. Chiron frowned sadly, probably missing Dionysus. Percy didn't miss that old sot at all, but he felt sympathetic towards him. He went towards the infirmary and hesitated before going to the usual room he was always in. He sighed before opening the door with a ton of thoughts running through his head. _

_Annabeth was huddled in a corner on her bed, hugging her knees as she shook. She had an empty plate beside her, so he guessed that Ashley brought food to her. Her eyes looked wilder than they did before and she was mumbling to herself more often. _

"_Hey…Wise Girl." It was awkward for him to strike up a conversation. He could barely talk to her since she wouldn't ever respond. That made him feel even worse, but better. She's alive and next to him, while others were completely alone. He should be grateful even though all he felt was dread. _

_Annabeth rocked back and forth in the bed. "It's time" she muttered, each time louder, and louder. She didn't even look at him. _

"_It's time!" she said louder, but the weird thing was, she was smirking the more she said it. _

"_Time for what?" Percy asked concerned. Annabeth looked up at him before smiling. It was an evil chaotic grin, much unlike her. Percy's eyes widened. It wasn't _even_ her. _

_A loud crash hit the distance like thunder followed by plenty of screams. Percy ran over to the open window by Annabeth's bed and looked outside. There was a growing rumble on the floor as if everything was shaking. _

"_The portal!" some campers shrieked and unsheathed their weapons running to the top of the hill. It's time. He could see people coming out of the pavilion, weapons ready, to see what was going on. Percy couldn't believe his eyes. There was a flicker of light on top of Half-Blood Hill and Percy braced himself for the worst. Dozens of monsters shot out of the portal charging down the hill. Dracaena, empousai, Earthborn, Cyclopes, and Centaurs were all headed towards the campers for battle. _

_Jason and Piper ran out of the Hecate Cabin with their blades ready. Clarisse was running to the base of the hill to direct everyone. She looked much better than she did before. She looked healthy and renew. Percy wondered how she took the fact that Chris was gone. He noticed she threw herself in tearing up the practice dummies in the arena, but that was normal. She always did that. _

_As soon as campers clashed with monsters, Percy was hit from behind. He fell to the floor but rolled over immediately trying to grasp Riptide from his pocket. Annabeth was standing above him maniacally. She had a piece of a broken plate in her hand and was pointing it at Percy. _

"_Annabeth?" That wasn't her. It couldn't have been. She would never do that to him. 'Annabeth' cackled. _

"_Fool!" she yelled at him, throwing the broken plate. Percy rolled to his left as it landed where he was before. Percy looked at her in horror. _

"_What have you done with her?" Her eyes were wild and crazed which confirmed Percy's thoughts. _

"_Me? Nothing. In fact, you never had her!" she yelled as she charged him for a hit. Percy threw his hands up in a block and grabbed her wrists to flip her over. She tumbled through the open window. She landed a bit ungracefully before pushing herself up. _

_She lunged for Percy, grasping on the collar of his Camp shirt and pulling him out the window as well. Percy knew that he was good fighter, but this was his supposed girlfriend. He didn't know if this was her actually body or not, or if she is in there somewhere replaced by a crazed demon, but he didn't want to hurt her any more than he probably already had. Call him crazy, but he wasn't going to take a risk with his girlfriend. _

"_You're all fools. You played right in her hands, and now your home will be burned"_

'_Annabeth' tried to punch him since she was now straddling him, but Percy caught the punch before it could hit him. Her eyes widened and she shrieked with rage, _very much_ not like Annabeth. She lifted herself to knee him in the stomach, but Percy intercepted it with his shin –which hurt- and made her fall to her side. Percy immediately took that to his advantage. He called on the water from the creek that led to the lake near the Big House. He had the water hold her down like shackles. She squirmed around in anger trying to get out of its hold. _

"_You will suffer Jackson. Even more than you already are!" she cried before reveling herself. Her body went up in flames to reveal an empousai. The empousai was there the entire time in Annabeth's place. _

_Percy didn't have time to think about it. He saw his parents heading towards his Cabin for cover. He ran over to help everyone else. He took his anger out on the monsters. The more he took out, the more he wanted to kill them even more. The more he killed, the more he wished it was Gaea. _

_He didn't notice he killed a majority of the monsters until Hazel put her hand on his shoulder to wake him up from his emotional hell. _

"_What happened?"_

Percy took a deep breath to calm himself down. That afternoon was the angriest he had ever been. He paced. He punched a tree. He sat at the bottom of the lake until he was called up for dinner. He even cried.

No matter what he did, no matter how many times he's actually saved lives, the fates wanted him miserable. He was suffering just like Gaea's minion said. He was stupid. He took a minion back to camp and put New Greece in danger. The empousai probably had some type of tracker in it for Gaea. No one was injured severely or deceased, but there was a weight on everyone's shoulders. Annabeth was still missing and Gaea knew where New Greece was. And for that, they were all screwed.

_**A/N: So…how was the first chapter. I personally think it sucked and could be much better. I have plans and I had this idea in my head for a while. This story will be the same amount of chapters as the last. I'm already excited to finish it. **_

_**Teaser: The demigods leave New Greece for the Underworld. **_


	2. Seriously?

"Percy!" Percy's head snapped towards Grover who was calling him as he ran up Half-Blood Hill. Percy didn't have the heart to smile at his best friend but he managed to anyway. It seemed like everything was out of place and he was walking through a distant memory. It was more like walking around in misery.

"I really wish I could come with you all." He said sadly. Percy patted him on the back.

"It's alright G-man, You have to protect the Camp with the rest of the Council. Don't worry about it." Grover looked out into the sky, admiring its bright blue with the cumulus clouds accenting it. It was nice to take a second to admire the calm before the storm.

"It's almost like old times. Someone getting kidnapped, fighting monsters, saving the world, it's getting pretty boring to me." Percy snorted at the irony.

"Trust me, near death experiences are not boring." Grover let out that bleated laugh Percy missed. It truly emphasized the whole 'half goat' thing.

"We would know, we are at the peak of our lives already." he said. Percy sighed. Of course they were. Everything in their lives just screamed Coach Hedge. Die! Die! Die!

Percy watched as everyone boarded the Camp Van. The Hephaestus Cabin whipped up a new invention they found in Bunker 9. A magic pouch that stores everything, literally. The pouch was made to support all demigod needs without all of the weight. The Apollo Cabin had packed essentials like extra ambrosia and nectar in a small pack with gauze and Band-Aids for any emergency. The Hermes Cabin stored in mini Camp plates from the pavilion for food and magic bottles that give them any drink they prefer. Percy liked the idea of having an endless supply of water in the Underworld.

Most of Percy's friends were at the top of the hill to wish them all luck on their quest. They would need it. Percy knew where they had to go first as well, and they didn't need the Argo II for it at all. They needed the quickest route to the Underworld and it was right there in New York.  
Percy noticed everyone's faces as they waited in the van for him. Argus was gripping the steering wheel tightly and the eyes on his hands were squeezed shut. He didn't want to drive them to their deaths just like that either.

Jason was holding Piper's hand in a comforting matter. The trip to the Hecate Cabin didn't work out. Percy remembered how Piper ran out crying. He felt ashamed at how he was going on a wild goose chase for Annabeth, when the others had their fair share of problems as well. It was selfish of him.

Hazel and Frank held each other closely. Frank and Hazel had it the easiest. It seemed like they didn't have anything holding them down other than losing each other. Leo had nothing to lose besides his life as far as Percy knew. But something about how he keeps looking at the girl beside him made Percy think otherwise. Ashley was shaking as she looked out the window. She was heading into the Underworld knowing she would die. That was brave.

Percy couldn't have asked for a better team to head down there with. They all balanced one another out with their powers.

"Get back safely, okay?" Grover hugged me.

"Protect my parents while I'm gone please." He told him. Grover nodded. Percy headed into the van doors. He sat inside taking one last glimpse of the Camp before Argus sped away.

The ride to Central Park was the longest hour and a half in his life. Percy forgot that Long Island and Manhattan were far apart. The entire time, no one spoke from the anxiousness they had. Leo didn't try to lighten the mood like he used to.

All of Argus's eyes were nervously flickering back to the young adults as if he was trying to soak them all in. Percy closed his eyes and tried to remain weightless and numb because all he was feeling was pain.

The sound of the tires running the road and roaring wind made him fall asleep easily. But the nightmares were the hard part.

_Percy dreamed himself in a dark room. It almost looked like the cavern he was in when he was sixteen right before he fell in Tartarus. Except he wasn't falling. And Annabeth wasn't with him. He could almost picture that same moment where she whispered in his ear that she loved him._

_Percy took a step forward. His legs felt like mush. There was a low light and he wanted to go towards it. He forced himself to walk. There was hushed voices speaking. Percy stepped out into the light. His voice got caught in his throat. Seriously? The fates just love making their way into his dreams._

_Gaea was standing to the side with two of her children beside her. Porphyrion and Enceladus. Why did they have to be alive?_

_"Mother, I don't understand. Why do we need a spirit in charge? It's an insult to all of us!" Porphyrion spoke. Percy snorted._

_"You are all in charge rather than any of the Titans. Is it not an insult to them?" she retorted cleverly. Porphyrion grit his teeth and looked away._

_"But our purpose was to be stronger than them." Enceladus said. Gaea slapped him upside the head._

_"No, it is to be stronger than them! Stupid words like that make me wonder why you all were even born!" Gaea bellowed. Even though her children were larger than her, she managed to intimidate them greatly, just like mothers did. Scare the living shit out of their children._

_Percy felt 0.00000000000001% bad for the giant. Gaea wasn't the best mother. She was the worst and Percy was glad he had luck._

_"We are stronger than them!" Porphyrion sent a steely glare to his brother before turning to his mother. "But is this necessary. What is the point in keeping her?" Gaea set her hard eyes on Porphyrion._

_"Because you fool! Perseus Jackson is still my pawn. He is my pawn for my next move and he is my pawn to keep this new era going."_

_"So, chess is what is keeping everything together?" Enceladus voiced his thoughts. Gaea looked at Porphyrion exasperated and he whacked his brother on the head._

_"Yes," She said sarcastically, but then her words began to make sense that even Percy figured it out. Which would work to his advantage. "I am the Queen. You are my knights. The Titans are my bishops, the pesky humans are my rooks, the demigods are my pawns, and my ruling is the King. We are the dark pieces and the demigods are the light pieces. On their side, Perseus may think that he in merely a knight but he is the King along with the rest of their little Camp. And we are going to put them in check with their Queen. And you know in chess, once you lose the Queen, the whole thing falls apart._

_"My strategy is to keep their Queen and use the Queen to my advantage. They won't even realize that the Queen will be their downfall. Perseus's most of all. That will leave them vunerable and then, checkmate. It's brilliant isn't it!" Porphyrion nodded a bit nervously._

_"I'm not comfortable with this plan." He said. Gaea scowled._

_"Well, be uncomfortable! No one asked you if you were comfortable!" Porphyrion scrunched his eyebrows together. There were pieces of armor stuck in it along with his hair._

_"Yes, you did." He countered._

_"No, I asked 'it's brilliant isn't it?'. Don't put adjectives in my mouth. Did I say, 'Is it comfortable enough for you?' No!"_

_"Bah, now I have a headache." Enceladus complained. Can Giants even get headaches?_

_"Whatever. Anyway, she is their Queen. Weak at the moment, but only mentally, which is how it's so easy to control. Her physical strength is still perfect. I only wish I used her body instead, it would cause Perseus even more strife." Enceladus scratched his head. Percy's breathing picked up. He hoped that Gaea wasn't planning to torture him with what he was thinking. That would be the ultimate low blow and most likely will kill him, inside and out. Yet again, the idea was perfect for Gaea since she was evil._

_"Wait. I'm confused still. What does she have to do with Jackson?" Gaea face-palmed._

_"I bore idiots." She mumbled to herself. "They were lovers," Percy's body shivered. He wasn't comfortable with Gaea referring to them as 'lovers'. Sometimes even boyfriend and girlfriend wasn't enough and Percy wanted more than that. They deserved more than that. "Soul mates even, and when you take away someone's other half, especially more than they already are gone in his case, not even the fates can help you."_

_Gaea cackled. She stood up and patted a blank Annabeth on the head. Her eyes were a blank grey. She was sitting up straight in a wooden chair with rope over her hands and ankles. She looked the same in his previous dream._

_Percy wondered how much Gaea actually knew. She managed to kill their plans. They thought they had an upper hand with breaking demigods from the jail, but that was a ploy. Gaea was enjoying tormenting Percy. And he had enough of it._

_"You are helping in so many ways." Gaea chuckled dangerously. Annabeth's blank eyes looked over to Gaea slowly. There was a brief flash of gold._

_"Yes, my lady." She spoke back. Percy wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream. Things have gone from bad to worse and Percy knew exactly how Gaea would get to him. And he knew it would work without a doubt._

Percy woke up in a sweat to Jason shaking him. "Dude, you were having a nightmare." Percy sat up to see everyone staring at him including all of Argus's eyes. The van was parked along a curb. Percy could see Central Park. Dead and empty for the first time in…ever.

"It was crazy."

"What was it about?" Hazel asked. Percy's demeanor darkened even further. It seemed like the world was hell bent on making him lose everything important to him. Which was mostly Annabeth.

"Gaea and her ploys." Percy sighed. He didn't want to tell any of them just yet about his dream. Everything felt so raw and they had to keep moving.

"Want to talk about it?" Leo asked. Percy shook his head.

"No." He'll share later when they have time to actually sit and talk. Percy was the first to step out the car with everyone looking at him worried. Argus sped off without a word, probably not wanting to cry at any moment.

"We should move before we are spotted." Jason spoke. Percy shrugged.

"Everyone knows who we are and I'm pretty sure than if we get surrounded, we can handle it." He replied. Percy led the way to the same place Nico led him when he was fifteen. A smaller narrow path.

"This is the door of Orpheus." Percy announced. Jason's eyes widened as Leo snorted.

"Some door." He laughed. "It's a pile of rocks." And there was a pile of rocks in front of them, but Percy knew better and he remembered where it was.

"A pile of rocks that'll take us to the Underworld." Frank added.

"The door has to be opened up with music. That's how Orpheus enchanted the earth." Percy wondered if the doors ever opened while a bystander was whistling and made them fall in. That would have been a sight to see.

Everyone looked at Ashley. She returned the look dryly. "Seriously?" She asked.

"Well who else can sing?" Jason asked. Ashley rolled her eyes. She pulled out a gold pin from her hair and in her hand it changed into a leer.

"Nice!" Frank exclaimed. She played a few notes, a tune sounding like Forget You by Ceelo Green, but nothing happened.

"Are you sure it's not a pile of rocks?" Leo scratched his head.

"It's not a pile of rocks!" Percy snapped. Leo surrendered as everyone snickered.

"Try a bit harder. Put your all into it. Enchant it." Hazel suggested.

"Enchant rocks," Ashley muttered. "Got it."

"It's not a pile of rocks!" Percy said exasperatedly. She closed her eyes and played a different song. This time it was the Spice Girls.

"So tell me what ya want, what ya really really want!" Leo sang in a poor tune.

"I wanna really really really wanna zigga zig ah!" Frank sang with him. Piper rolled her eyes.

_Seriously?_ she mouthed.

The rocks began to fall to the ground and they all took a step back. It was as if they were sinking into the ground. A dark opening was in front of them and Percy felt very smug.

"Leo, what is that?" He asked in satisfaction.

Leo answered Percy miffed. "Not...a pile of rocks." Percy was the first one to step into the cavern. There were black stairs that led them into the Underworld. Piper, Hazel, Jason, Leo, and Frank followed him except a pale Ashley. She stepped in hesitantly and breathed.

"It'll be fine. Just don't use too much energy. You'll need it especially in Tartarus." Percy told her. She looked like she wanted to barf.

"That isn't exactly reassuring," She said, putting her clip back in her hair. "What was it like for you?" Percy froze. He felt a bit stupid. He was headed back into an extreme danger zone and he never even thought of the fact that he would end up having to tell the rest of them what to expect. Percy descended down the stairs as the other demigods followed.

"I never liked speaking about it. But, I'll have to for us to survive." He said gravely. He shivered at his memories.

"It started when Annabeth and I fell into the River Cocytus..."

**_A/N: Hey, sorry for the lateness but I've been super busy. Hope you enjoyed. _**

**_Teaser: Percy retells his story in Tartarus. And journeys through the Underworld to get to the entrance of Tartarus...well without stopping first!_**


End file.
